Baby Dragon (1,500,000 KRW)

After battling through 30 levels and outlasting a field of 330 players that pushed the total prize pool to KRW 432,135,000 (~$310,123), China's Chao Hu hoisted the Baby Dragon trophy and donned his first Red Dragon Champions Jacket.

I feel very happy. I think winning a tournament championship isn’t just about the prize; more importantly, it’s about the sense of achievement you get from defeating many opponents. You also discover that you’re constantly surpassing yourself, challenging your weaknesses, and becoming a better version of yourself.

Hu started the day 12th out of 50 being the chip leader at table 7. His stack got a first push in level 20, after doubling up with ace-king against nines before catapulting into the lead during level 22 when he made sevens-full against his soon-to-be heads-up opponent Hongjun Zhao's top-pair top-kicker. On his way to the final table he knocked out Ruoyu Yang in 15th and Xueqi Feng in 14th which made him start the Final 9 second in chips, just one BB behind then chip leader Hongjun Zhao.

At the final table, I found it hard to figure out the playing style of the opponent to my right. He often made unexpected moves, like always opening with 3 big blinds (3bb), and even when he was short-stacked, he remained very aggressive against my big blind. Later, with the help of some friends, I reviewed the hands to think about how to counter him. When my chip stack grew, I started to suppress and exploit him.

During the Final 9 he used his big stack well, further knocking out Yiming Kuang just after sitting down at the final table and on hand #38 Wenwen Chen in 7th when a preflop all-in with ace-king saw him outdraw Chen's pocket tens.

Actually, I remember many hands from the final table quite vividly—I can recall most of them. Two hands stand out in particular. One was when I had Ace-King (AK) and eliminated Chen Wenwen, who is a good friend and a strong competitor. I felt a bit embarrassed eliminating him, but that’s poker. The other hand was against the tricky player to my right (Yongbin Wang). When I had a deep stack, I 3-bet him with 3-5 of spades, luckily hit a 3 on the board, and overtook his Ace-Queen (AQ). This crippled his stack and eventually led to his elimination, so that hand was quite crucial.

His run continued with the elimination of Rong Zhang in 5th and Yongbin Wang in 4th where a bit of luck went his way, cracking Wang's eights with his ducks and later outdrawing Xiao Liu's king-queen with queen-four, that got him to the heads up as a roughly 4 to 5 underdog where he agreed with Hongjun Zhao to an even chop.

During the heads-up, I had fewer chips than my opponent, so splitting the prize pool was something I was happy to do.

Only five hands later he emerged as the champion after hitting mid-set against Zhao's flush draw that didn't materialize.

Congrats to all the players who gave it their best today and the SMP live updates will be back with you tomorrow at noon for Day 1A of the Red Dragon Championship.

Full transcript of the winner's interview :

SMP: Hello Hu Chao, first of all, congratulations on winning the Qinglong Tournament. How are you feeling now?How does it feel winning the Baby Dragon Event?

Chao Hu: I feel very happy. I think winning a tournament championship isn’t just about the prize; more importantly, it’s about the sense of achievement you get from defeating many opponents. You also discover that you’re constantly surpassing yourself, challenging your weaknesses, and becoming a better version of yourself.

SMP: Who is your toughest opponent in the final table and why?

Chao Hu: At the final table, I found it hard to figure out the playing style of the opponent to my right. He often made unexpected moves, like always opening with 3 big blinds (3bb), and even when he was short-stacked, he remained very aggressive against my big blind. Later, with the help of some friends, I reviewed the hands to think about how to counter him. When my chip stack grew, I started to suppress and exploit him.

SMP: Can you describe a specific hand where you played exceptionally well and explain your strategy used.

Chao Hu: Actually, I remember many hands from the final table quite vividly—I can recall most of them. Two hands stand out in particular. One was when I had Ace-King (AK) and eliminated Chen Wenwen, who is a good friend and a strong competitor. I felt a bit embarrassed eliminating him, but that’s poker. The other hand was against the tricky player to my right. When I had a deep stack, I 3-bet him with 3-5 of spades, luckily hit a 3 on the board, and overtook his Ace-Queen (AQ). This crippled his stack and eventually led to his elimination, so that hand was quite crucial.

SMP: How do you observe and analyze your opponents playing styles?How do you handle the mental pressure of playing high-stakes poker?

Chao Hu: I think it’s mainly about self-adjustment. The primary issue is emotional control. In poker, the most common problem is tilting—losing control when our expectations don’t match reality. For example, when we expect to win a pot but don’t, we might get upset. Everyone faces this, including me. So, I try to lower my expectations and remind myself that poker is a game of luck. You have to be prepared for bad beats. Even when you go all-in, if your opponent has a 20% or even 10% chance, they can still win. It’s about constant adjustment. I can’t fully control my emotions, but I try my best and encourage others to do the same.

SMP: What resources (books,online communities or coaches) have been most helpful to you in poker journey?

Chao Hu: I occasionally read interesting books and watch videos, but overall, I don’t study much. Strictly speaking, I’m not a diligent professional player who rigorously studies and reviews hands. I have a more casual attitude. If something interests me, I’ll look into it and think about it, but if it gets tiring or boring, I just let it go.

SMP: We know that you are a Hearthstone esports player, and Hearthstone is a game that requires strategy. How do you think Hearthstone and poker differ?

Chao Hu: Both are mental games, but poker is more complex than Hearthstone. Live tournaments are physically demanding because you have to stay sharp from noon to midnight, which isn’t easy. Prolonged play can lead to fatigue and mistakes. Still, both games require a lot of thinking.

SMP: What advice would you give to someone just starting their poker journey?

Chao Hu: I think passion for the game is the most important thing. If you don’t have passion and are just playing for money or other reasons, it’s hard to enjoy it. You need to be passionate to persist and have fun playing.

SMP: What is your next poker goal?

Chao Hu: My poker goal, haha, is to win every tournament I enter. My next goal is to win the next championship—and more championships after that.

SMP: what made you play poker instead of pushing your esport career?

Chao Hu: When I was in esports, starting with Dota and then Hearthstone, many of my friends in the circle—fellow esports players—loved playing poker. We started playing casually among friends, and gradually I got into it and fell in love with the game. I find it fun because it’s about competing and strategizing against each other.

SMP: Whats the difference between cash game and tournament?

Chao Hu: Tournament strategy is more complex, while cash game strategy is relatively simpler. I find tournaments more fun because they involve many different stages of chip stack confrontations. Cash games focus more on deep stack play, and the strategy is somewhat simpler. In cash games, small wins or losses don’t matter as much as long as you play well in big pots.

SMP: What made you decide to split the prize pool with your opponent?

Chao Hu: During the heads-up, I had fewer chips than my opponent, so splitting the prize pool was something I was happy to do.

Chao Hu makes it 300,000, followed by a triple barrel sequence of 200,000, 550,000 and 1,800,000 to the river 3♦ J♥ 4♥ K♠ Q♠ with K♥ 3♣ where Zhao let's go of his J♠ 8♣ .

Hand #72: Chao Hu opens 250,000 and Hongjun Zhao fills up before check folding to Hu's 150,000 follow up on the flop 3♦ 8♥ Q♦ .

Hand #73: Zhao's 300,000 lead is defended by Hu to see the flop 9♠ 4♥ K♠ where he check-calls a 200,000 c-bet before switching to a 300,000 lead on the turn K♣ . Zhao calls, the board completes 2♣ and Zhao fills another 750,000 bet with trips K♦ 5♠ to scoop the pot against Hu's 9♦ 8♦ .

Hongjun Zhao makes it 200,000 and Chao Hu fills up to see the flop J♣ 2♦ Q♦ where Zhao's 200,000 c-bet with Q♥ 3♣ is enough to get Hu off of his 7♦ 6♥ .

Chao Hu opens 275,000 with A♥ K♥ and Hongjun Zhao fills up holding 4♦ 3♦ to see the flop 7♦ A♦ 6♥ that gets checked to the turn 7♥ where Zhao check-calls 450,000, the board completes 9♣ and Zhao tries to wrestle the pot his way by leading 750,000, but has to surrender after Hu calls.

This means that they will now play for the Baby Dragon Trophy and the Players Jacket. Good luck!

Another bad beat for the player at risk on the board 4♣ T♠ 4♠ A♠ K♥ calls for an investigation into the dealers, trying to get home early ;)

Under the gun Xiao Liu ups the fee to 220,000 and takes both opponents to the flop 8♥ Q♥ T♦ that gets checked to the 8♠ turn and A♣ river before Liu bets 250,000 with 2♥ 2♣ . Zhao calls with his rivered top pair A♦ 6♣ to grow his stack some more.

With the 2♦ in the window, Wang starts skiing uphill and can't find a lift when the board completes K♠ 5♠ 3♣ J♠ , just missing out on the podium spots.

Hand #57: Under the gun Hongjun Zhao opens 200,000 and takes both blinds to the flop 9♠ 8♣ J♦ that gets checked all the way to the turn 9♦ and river A♦ before Zhao's 300,000 bet takes it down.

Hand #58: Chao Hu limps the button and Zhao checks his big blind to see the flop J♠ K♦ K♣ where Hu scoops with a 100,000 bet.

Hand #59: Xiao Liu jams 770,000 from the button with no takers.

Hand #60: Button Zhao collects blinds after raising to 200,000.

Hand #61: Zhao makes it 200,000 again, but folds when faced with a 650,000 three bet from small blind Chao Hu.

Under the gun Rong Zhang declares all-in for 320,000 and both blinds fill up to check it down to the river A♣ J♥ 6♥ 5♣ J♣ with big blind Chao Hu's 6♠ 3♣ being good enough to win another pot against Rong's Q♥ T♣ .

Hand #54: Xiao Liu limps the small blind but folds when faced with Hongjun Zhao's jam from big blind.

Hand #55: Zhao limps his small blind and Yongbin Wang opts to check for the flop 5♥ 4♥ 9♦ to be taken down by Wang with a 100,000 lead holding T♣ 9♠ against Zhao's Q♥ 7♠ .

Hand #52: Xiao Liu jams 1,100,000 from under the gun to collect the blinds

Hand #53: Yongbin Wang raises to 200,000 from the cutoff and finds no takers.

Hand #50: Hongjun Zhao opens 225,000 from the button and takes big blind Yongbin Wang to the flop 2♠ 5♣ Q♠ where Wang donks 200,000 with 9♥ 9♣ , but throws it away after Zhao upped it to 500,000.

Hand #51: Hongjun Zhao's 150,000 open takes big blind Chao Hu to the flop 8♠ 3♠ 5♣ that gets checked down all the way to the turn K♠ and river K♣ where Zhao flips over the winner A♦ J♠ against Hu's T♣ 7♣ .

No ace for Li on 8♣ K♦ T♥ 4♦ 9♠ sends him to the payout desk.

Hand #45: Small blind Yongbin Wang raises to 155,000 and Chao Hu defends to see the flop A♣ 3♥ 3♠ where a 125,000 follow up from Wang gets the job done.

Hand #46: Hongjun Zhao collects the blinds after opening 150,000 from the hijack.

Hand #47: Chao Hu leads 150,000 from the button with no takers.

Hand #48: Hu opens 160,000 from the cutoff, but lets it go after small blind Xiao Liu declared all-in for 835,000.

Button Rong Zhang makes it 150,000 and big blind Hongjun Zhao defends to see the flop 5♠ Q♦ K♥ that gets checked to the turn 2♠ and river 5♦ . Zhang tries to steal with A♠ 8♣ for 200,000, but Zhao check-calls with Q♠ J♥ to pick up some chips.

Cutoff Yongbin Wang raises to 125,000 and fills up after button Chao Hu upped it to 280,000. Hu continues for 200,000 on the flop 4♠ T♥ 3♣ and Wang floats. The turn 6♣ and river 8♥ get checked down with Hu coming out on top holding 3♠ 2♠ against Wang's A♠ Q♠ .

Hand #39: Under the gun Rong Zhang opens 125,000 and big blind Chao Hu defends to see the flop 8♣ 3♦ 9♣ that gets checked to the turn 5♠ where a 90,000 bet from Hu gets the job done.

Hand #40: Zhongxian Li makes it 125,000 from the cutoff and Zhang defends big blind, the flop J♦ Q♦ K♠ gets checked to the turn 4♠ and Li scoops with a 75,000 delayed c-bet.

Immediate heartbreak for Chen on K♣ J♦ 5♠ J♣ 6♣ sending her to the rail.

Hand #34: Under the gun Hongjun Zhao wants 125,000 with 6♦ 6♣ , but makes a disciplined fold after small blind Rong Zhang jams 1,100,000 with J♦ J♣ .

Hand #35: Wenwen Chen leads 120,000 with A♦ J♣ from +1, small blind Xiao Liu flats 9♠ 9♣ and big blind Hongjun Zhao squeeze jams 2,200,000 with 8♥ 8♦ which gets both opponents to fold.

Hand #36: Rong Zhang opens 120,000 from the cutoff and takes small blind Hongjun Zhao to the flop Q♠ 9♦ T♦ that gets checked down to the turn 7♣ and river Q♥ with Zhang flipping over the winner K♦ 9♣ against Zhao's A♦ 5♦ .

Hand #30: Wenwen Chen walks.

Hand #31: Chao Hu takes the blinds after raising 125,000 from under the gun.

Hand #32: Chen jams 710,000 from the button to collect the blinds.

Hand #33: Hu jams the small blind to scoop pre.

Chao Hu opens 125,000 from the hijack and small blind Hongjun Zhao defends to see the flop 6♦ 3♠ A♥ where a 75,000 c-bet from Hu gets called. The turn 9♠ and river 9♣ get checked down with Zhao tabling the winner A♦ 7♦ against Hu's K♠ K♥ .

Hongjun Zhao defends big blind after Yongbin Wang made it 150,000 from the hijack and Wang scoops after laying out a c-bet of 150,000 on the flop 2♣ 5♥ 3♠ .

Hand #21: Chao Hu opens 105,000 out of the hijack with A♥ 3♥ and small blind Xiao Liu defends 5♦ 5♣ to see the flop 9♣ Q♦ Q♣ where an 80,000 c-bet gets the job done for Hu.

Hand #22: Under the gun Wenwen Chen wants 100,000 with A♠ J♦ and cutoff Rong Zhang obliges holding A♥ Q♥ to see the flop 8♦ 7♥ K♣ that gets checked to the turn J♠ where Zhang's 200,000 bet ends the hand.

Hand #23: Yongbin Wang collects the blinds with a 150,000 raise from under the gun.

Hand #24: Chao Hu does the same with a 105,000 open.

Hand #25: Yongbin Wang takes big blind after raising to 150,000 from the small blind.

Hand #26: Wang opens 105,000 from the button and big blind Rong Zhang defends to see the flop 7♠ A♣ 8♣ where Wang's 125,000 c-bet gets called, but Zhang folds on the turn 2♣ when Wang wants another 200,000 to continue.

The turn 3♣ and river 9♣ leave Wang in the lead.

Zhang evades the over cards on 8♣ A♣ Q♣ 6♦ A♥ and sends Jin packing.

Rong Zhang raises 90,000 from +2, Zhongxian Li wants 250,000, but let's it go after Zhang declared all-in for 1,100,000.

Chao Hu kicks off the action with an 80,000 raise and takes two customers to the flop 7♦ A♣ J♦ where his 60,000 c-bet gets called by both opponents to reveal the turn 3♣ that gets checked to the river A♠ . Button Xiao Liu bets 220,000 with A♥ T♦ and scoops the pot.

Hand #9: Jiahao Jin opens 300,000 from +1 with no callers.

Hand #10: Hongjun Zhao scoops with a 250,000 three-bet from +2 after Xiao Liu opened 85,000 from +1.

Hand #11: Zhongxian Li raises 80,000 from +2 and both blinds defend to see the flop 4♦ 7♠ 7♥ where a single 125,000 c-bet takes it down for Li.

Hand #5: Hongjun Zhao walks.

Hand #6: Zhao opens 120,000 from the small blind, but let's it go after Zhongxian Li jams 1,100,000.

Hand #7: Xiao Liu leads 85,000 from the cutoff and big blind Wenwen Chen defends to see the flop 7♥ 6♦ Q♦ . Chen check-calls 55,000 and the turn 8♠ gets checked to the river 3♦ . Liu forks out another 110,000 with Q♠ J♦ and Chen surrenders after giving it some thought.

Hijack Yongbin Wang opens 60,000 and Xiao Liu defends big blind to see the flop Q♥ 5♦ 7♠ that gets checked to the turn 2♥ . Checked to Wang again, an 80,000 delayed c-bet wanders over the line and Liu's 180,000 raise gets called. The river J♠ sees Liu announce 340,000 all-in with Q♣ 7♣ and Wang fills up holding 9♣ 9♠ .

Hongjun Zhao leads 60,000 from +1 and Jiahao Jin defends big blind to see the flop J♣ A♣ T♦ where Jin check-calls a 50,000 c-bet. The turn J♦ gets checked to the river 6♦ and Jin switches to a lead for 130,000 with trips J♥ 9♣ and Zhao answers with a raise to 300,000 holding J♠ T♠ . Spending some time in the tank, Jin finds a great fold to stay alive.

Hongjun Zhao raises 60,000 from +2 and takes two customers to the flop 2♣ 7♣ T♠ where big blind Rong Zhang donk-bets 100,000 with J♣ 9♣ to take it down.

Small blind Chao Hu open limps J♦ 4♦ and big blind Yiming Kuang ups it to 100,000 with 8♦ 8♥ . Hu calls to see the flop J♠ A♥ 5♦ and flats another 70,000 from Kuang. The turn falls 4♠ and Hu snaps Kuang's 430,000 all-in. The river J♥ seals the deal for Kuang, finishing in 9th place.

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The Big Bounty NLH is in level 13 with 21 out of 85 players remaining, 13 ITM spots and KRW 11,295,000 on top.

The Red Dragon Prestige High Roller Day 1 in level 4 with 44 out of 52 remaining and late reg open until level 14 on Day 2.

The No Limit 2-7 Single Draw has 4 out 6 players left in level 7 and late reg open until the end of level 8.

No help for Wang on 9♦ 3♥ T♦ 5♠ 2♣ makes him the final table bubble and ends his hopes of a title defense.

The dealer keeps it interesting until the end by tabling 6♠ 2♠ 3♥ Q♠ T♠ , sending Xiao to the rail and the rest of the field into the final table bubble.

With a 50,000 raise in front and a call by Yongbin Wang in the hijack, cutoff Rong Zhang squeezes to 225,000 and only Wang pays up to see the flop 3♥ 7♣ 8♦ . Wang donk-jams 375,000 with 6♠ 6♦ and Zhang let's go of A♣ K♦ .

With a limp from under the gun Shizi Xiao in front, small blind Chao Hu makes it 95,000 and big blind Hongjun Zhao cold four-bets 295,000. Xiao folds, Hu goes in the tank, but decides to also let it go after some careful consideration.

Pang misses the board 2♦ 2♣ Q♠ Q♣ 4♣ , ending another deep run for him here at the Landing Casino.

Yongbin Wang makes it 75,000 from +1 with and fills up after hijack Rong Zhang upped it to 150,000. Zhang calls a 125,000 donk-bet on the flop 8♣ Q♠ 8♥ before scooping the pot on the turn 9♥ by jamming 565,000 into Wang's 25,000 bet.

Under the gun Shizi Xiao leads 50,000 and takes two players to the flop 2♠ 9♦ 4♥ where the action checks to button Yiming Kuang who puts out an 80,000 feeler, big blind Hongjun Zhao check-raises to 220,000 and only Kuang gets sticky to see the turn 3♠ . Zhao leads 400,000 and picks up the pot right there.

Zhang's odds grow slimmer until hitting zero on the board 6♣ 5♠ 6♥ J♦ Q♥ and we inch one spot closer to the Final 9.

Digging for a king, Hu strikes gold on the turn 9♥ 9♦ 2♥ K♥ and the river 4♦ seals Yang's fate.

Under the gun Hongjun Zhao raises again to 45,000 and takes two customers to the flop 2♦ 2♥ J♣ where his 55,000 c-bet takes him heads up with button Chao Hu to the turn 7♣ who calls Zhao's second barrel of 230,000 after tanking for a bit. The board completes K♦ , giving Zhao top pair with A♣ K♠ who jams his massive stack, but Hu snaps sevens-full 7♠ 7♦ to pick up the biggest pot of the day so far, taking him into the lead.

Cutoff Zhongxian Li opens 40,000 and fills up after button Shengyong Wang upped it to 80,000. Li check-calls 65,000 on the flop A♥ 7♦ Q♣ before the turn 9♠ gets checked around to the river 8♣ . Having hit two pair 8♠ 7♠ , Li takes the lead for 120,000 which is enough to scoop the pot.

Hongjun Zhao opens 30,000 out of the hijack and Ruoyu Yang defends big blind to see the flop Q♣ T♦ Q♦ where Yang check-calls a 40,000 c-bet. The turn T♠ gets checked to the river 2♣ where Yang check-calls once more, this time for 100,000, but has to surrender the pot to Zhao's A♣ Q♠ full house.

No miracle for Tang on Q♥ 7♠ 5♥ 6♣ J♦ hands Liu the biggest pot of the tournament so far.

Zhang's big blind special stays ahead on 8♣ and 3♣ to scoop a much needed double up.

With a stellar start to Day 2 under his belt, Hongjun Zhao opens 30,000 from the cutoff once more and big blind Shengyong Wang defends big blind to see the flop 6♣ 8♠ 5♥ . Wang check-calls a 40,000 c-bet and the turn 2♦ gets checked to the river Q♣ . Having hit top pair with Q♥ 9♣ Wang leads 60,000 and scoops the pot after Zhao made the call.

Hijack Yiming Kuang opens 35,000 and big blind Wen Chen defends to see the flop 5♣ 7♥ Q♥ . Chen check-calls 20,000 for the turn 8♥ to hit the felt where she takes over the reins with a 45,000 lead of her own that Kuang calls. The board completes J♥ , Chen is back to checking and Kuang goes in the tank before he forks out a massive 500,000 over-bet. Chen contemplates for quite a while before letting it go.